Category: Culture

What happened in Kenya is that the elections were flawed and there are currently two men who claim to be the rightfully elected President of Kenya. The incumbent (Kibaki) is from the largest tribe in Kenya which are the Kikuyu. The opposition (ODM) is led by a man by the name of Raila. ODM is a coalition party comprised of almost all of the other major tribes,which are the Luhya, Luo, and the Kalenjin.

According to government statistics, the main groups are — Kikuyu (22 percent); Luhya (14 percent); Luo (13 percent); Kalenjin (12 percent); Kamba (11 percent)

The fighting started because the opposition is positive that Raila is supposed to be the president, but Kibaki had already sworn himself into office within an hour of the announcement of the results. Sadly that reason was only a excuse to get started. The political stalemate has lasted long enough that the fight has taken on its own life, and has evolved into a tribal war that stems from resentment from things that happened 49 years ago while Kenya was still under British rule.

The Kalenjin tribe is claiming all of the Rift Valley Province to be their own, and of course the Kikuyu are disputing that. The problem is that while the Kalenjin are vastly outnumbered by the Kikuyu, they are fearless and heartless, and the Kikuyu are deathly afraid of them and run from a direct fight with them. But the Kikuyu are taking their anger and frustration out on the friends of the Kalenjin, which only makes the Kalenjin even more angry.

This all came close to home last Fri and Sat. Friday night there were church members that were chased from their homes and on Saturday there were mobs and some major fighting very close to our compound here in Nakuru. We even heard some bullets flying overhead. One thing that we are thankful for is the fact that the ‘bad guys’ don’t have guns, only the Police and military have them, which gives a definite upper hand to the ‘good guys.’ The weapons of choice are machetes, sticks, spears, rocks, bow and arrows, and such like medieval weaponry. But things are continuing in a downward spiral. Just this morning (12:30 am) a Minister of Parliament was murdered as he arrived home in his car.

Pray for us as we make decisions and pray for the Kenyan people as their lives are shattered.

There was a lot of fear coming up to the elections that the situation would become very volatile and that there would be a lot of violence. But I am writing this on the morning of the second day after and there is not much happening. It looks like the previous president will be “unseated by the polls” which would be a first for Kenya.

Parliament was shaken up though. Sixteen of the MPs that were running for reelection were left out in the cold. Including the former Vice President. And the former minister of roads. Yay!

Now, lets see if these people keep their promises.